Ingredients:
200g (7oz) unsalted butter
400g (14oz) sifted icing sugar
Few drops of vanilla extract
Splash of milk
Food colouring paste, optional
1. For buttercream icing, beat butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in icing sugar in stages. Add a few drops of vanilla extract and a splash of milk and beat until smooth. Add food colouring paste if desired.
2. If you’re making cake for a stacked, tiered wedding cake, put cake upside down on a cake board of same size, so the bottom becomes the top. A cake turntable will help give a professional finish. Otherwise, put the cake straight on to a cake stand or serving plate.
3. To stop crumbs being visible in the icing on the finished cake, first ice it with a crumb coat – a thin layer of icing that will seal in any stray crumbs. Spoon a third of buttercream into a separate bowl. This will stop crumbs tainting rest of icing. Dollop a large blob of icing on to the top of the cake and spread evenly over top, turning turntable all time. Once the top is covered, lightly hold the edge of the palette knife against the icing, turning the turntable slowly to scrape away a thin layer of icing and smooth the top flat. Scrape excess icing back into bowl and repeat process until top is flat.
4. Spread icing around the sides of the cake with the palette knife. Keep adding icing until sides are completely covered, with no gaps. Hold the edge of the palette knife against the side of the cake. Slowly turn the cake so that the knife takes off excess icing, without exposing the cake. Scrape excess icing back into bowl and continue until sides are smooth and even. Discard any remaining crumb coat icing. Chill cake for 2hr.
5. Repeat entire process with the remaining buttercream to add a second layer of icing, for a super-smooth finish.
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Classic glass bowl (2 litres), Pyrex. White China small pitcher, Sophie Conran. Black two-tone silicone scraper, Kuhn Rikon UK. Palette knife, cake turntable, chopping board, small white bowl, chef's own.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
